Stopped
by Leife
Summary: “Please… find Zidane.” The mage’s eyes were beginning to become dull and less aware, his body shivering ever so slightly. Mr. 36 tightened his grip on the mage’s hand, more for his own comfort then for Vivi's.


**- S T O P P E D -**

_In a dimly-lit room in the Black Mage Village…_

Mr. 36 held the hand of Vivi, his burning eyes staring intently at the dark figure lying on the bed before him. Vivi had his eyes closed and there was an uncharacteristic void that seemed to swallow his face. Mr. 36 couldn't help thinking that maybe stopping was like an unforgiving void, swallowing life whole.

His thoughts were interrupted as the curtain, acting as a door, rustled with movement. Mr. 36 turned his head to see a young blonde girl with a tail stride into the room. She stood in the middle of the small space, eyes locked on the face of the smaller mage.

"Mr. 36, he's going to stop soon, I believe."

Mr. 36 turned his head back to the small mage, unable to voice his opinion. Mr. 36 had never cried before and he was unsure if he was even able to produce tears, but in that moment he felt that if he tried to speak even one word he would drown in a river of wet sorrow.

A heavy blanket of despair enveloped the room as the lone candle's light flickered, threatening to die out. Mr. 36 thought it only seemed just that with the end of life brings the end of light. All the mages were afraid of stopping. No one knew if stopping was permanent or temporary, like going to sleep for a while. If stopping meant forever then where would they go after they ceased to function? No one had answers to their questions, leaving them with occasional fits of anxiety and fear.

Gradually, a tiny flicker of movement lit up the dying mage's face. Mr. 36 watched intently as Vivi's face gave way to illumination.

Turning his head slowly, the small mage whispered, "Mr. 36… Mikoto… you're both here."

Mr. 36 nodded slowly as Mikoto moved closer to the bed.

"We are here for you," Mikoto replied. Speaking in such an intimate way was abnormal for the genome. She wasn't accustomed to emotion, but ever since arriving on Gaia, many of her past idiosyncrasies were forgotten.

"Please… do me a favor."

"Anything," she voiced.

"Please… find Zidane." The mage's eyes were beginning to become dull and less aware, his body shivering ever so slightly. Mr. 36 tightened his grip on the mage's hand, more for his own comfort then for Vivi's.

Mikoto stood motionless for a full minute before responding, "I promise, I will do all that I can to locate the missing Zidane."

Clearing his throat, Mr. 36 added with a shaky voice, "Please, Vivi, rest now. We will take care of everything."

Without another word, Vivi's eyes closed and his face lost the fiery luminosity forevermore. The room was quiet now and strangely calm as Mr. 36 and Mikoto stood staring at his body.

"Mr. 36, we must make preparations for his… ceremony. Forgive me; I do not remember the correct word."

"Funeral… the word is funeral…" he added quietly.

"Yes, funeral. After the funeral, I will journey to the Iifa tree and see if I can find any sign of Zidane. Mr. 36, I must go make preparations. Will you not come with me?"

"No," he spoke slowly, "I will stay here with Vivi for a while longer. You go ahead."

Without a word, Mikoto turned and walked away, the curtain rustling at her leave. Silently, Mr. 36 managed to let a single tear fall to the bed sheets. The discovery of a human characteristic in the wake of death seemed unfair. He wished that Vivi could have seen this, but somehow had a feeling that Vivi knew all about the experience of human tears.

_Perhaps we have more to live for than I thought… Thank you, Vivi; for everything…_

_

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_A/N: Forgive me if I did not use the correct black mage for the story. My PS2 doesn't want to work anymore and I had a terrible time finding a list of who was who. I gave this a once over and decided to just post the story. Its my take on how Vivi 'stopped.' Please leave me a review, as they are my fuel to continue writing! If you want to read more from me than please review!


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